OFFICIAL 2018 COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFFSEASON THREAD

Who is going to win the Big Ten this season?


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It's so hard to tell with those coaches because most of the time they're at places that are pretty hard to recruit to, but have enough talent available to nail evaluations. Prime example for me would be Dan Mullen. It's impossible to be a good recruiter when you're trying to get kids to come to Starkville over other SEC locales, but he still pulls a few really talented kids every year. His evaluations are usually pretty good, giving him really competitive teams every few years.

...but I have no clue if he's actually a good coach/bad recruiter or just has enough upperclassman talent every few years to have solid teams. I feel like his recruiting/personality (which plays heavily with recruits) is what's keeping him from getting hired by all these high profile programs that have been open the last few years. I'd definitely be happy with A&M taking a chance on him if we can't money whip the top tier guys, though.

Also...he's a snitch, so that doesn't help.
 
Hugh Freeze was a great recruiter ... never mind lol


I wonder what Saban says to recruits :lol:


C'mon, mang, you know the drill :nthat:

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Gary Patterson may also be a good example, but he's been at a serious disadvantage recruiting-wise for a good part of his career. His recruiting has picked up a lot since TCU joined the Big 12, but it could still be better with all the DFW talent each year. He's playing from so far behind though that it may be flawed to judge him given the huge advantage Oklahoma/Texas/A&M have been able to build over him during those Mountain West years. I'm super intrigued by his potential to recruit to a big time program and also coach guys up with the uptick in recruiting they've had the past few years.

I also don't know that he's necessarily been a "his guys" type coach either. He's hit on evaluations at so many different positions over the years with different types of players that it doesn't seem like he has one certain type of guy he elevates his program with.
 
Depends what you mean by "recruiter".

A guy like Petersen might not have a flashy star rating next to his classes buy he nails his evaluations and put guys into the league. He isn't simply coaching guys up, and hoping they can be competent players by their fourth and fifth years in the program (a la Wisconsin). He's finding talent.

For me personally, recruiting success should judge on the amount of guys you put in the league.


In all seriousness, I know he’s put some guys in the league out of Boise, but enough to earn him a reputation as someone who develops pros?

I know it comes off as hating, but all these kids getting drafted out of UW have been Sark’s recruits. We get to see this year what the pros think of CP’s guys. Next year we get to see if he can win big in a power 5 with mostly OKG’s.
 
Do you think GP would ever leave TCU though? Seems happy enough.

I think it's gonna be hard for him to at his age. He's extremely comfortable at TCU and has really rebuilt that program. His salary is "sort of/officially" off the books with him being at a private school, so it's hard to tell exactly what he makes when you include the endorsements he has with DFW companies. Trelvis probably has better info, but word is he's at around $7-8MM. His wife supposedly doesn't want to leave Fort Worth.

At 57 I think it's going to be extremely hard to lure him to somewhere like A&M where he'd have to structure a bit of a rebuild and go through a couple tough years when he can keep competing for conference titles right now at TCU. If TCU/OU end up with 2 losses this year and get ranked behind a 2 loss Auburn/Ohio State/Georgia/Penn State/USC going into the playoffs, you have to wonder if he might get duped into seeing A&M and the SEC (or any Power 5 other than the Big 12) as being a better possibility for making the playoffs and want to take a chance though.
 
In all seriousness, I know he’s put some guys in the league out of Boise, but enough to earn him a reputation as someone who develops pros?

I know it comes off as hating, but all these kids getting drafted out of UW have been Sark’s recruits. We get to see this year what the pros think of CP’s guys. Next year we get to see if he can win big in a power 5 with mostly OKG’s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boise_State_Broncos_in_the_NFL_draft

He was there from 01-13, became HC in 06. Kamalei Correa, and Jay Ajayi were also guys he recruited and coached.

For what Boise is, yes I think he deserves that rep.
 
I think it's gonna be hard for him to at his age. He's extremely comfortable at TCU and has really rebuilt that program. His salary is "sort of/officially" off the books with him being at a private school, so it's hard to tell exactly what he makes when you include the endorsements he has with DFW companies. Trelvis probably has better info, but word is he's at around $7-8MM. His wife supposedly doesn't want to leave Fort Worth.

At 57 I think it's going to be extremely hard to lure him to somewhere like A&M where he'd have to structure a bit of a rebuild and go through a couple tough years when he can keep competing for conference titles right now at TCU. If TCU/OU end up with 2 losses this year and get ranked behind a 2 loss Auburn/Ohio State/Georgia/Penn State/USC going into the playoffs, you have to wonder if he might get duped into seeing A&M and the SEC (or any Power 5 other than the Big 12) as being a better possibility for making the playoffs and want to take a chance though.

I figured he'd just remain at TCU. Seems like a lifer guy, especially if he hasn't already left. Plus, TCU appears to have plenty of money to keep his pockets filled. I was actually really surprised they pulled in as much as they did. I love Texas. Like a lot. Probably my favorite state top-to-bottom, but A&M just doesn't seem very ideal while Saban is at Alabama and a whole plethora of other high profile coaches are there. UGA is on the uptick, Chip is apparently going to UF, LSU is always tough whether they lose to Troy or not, they have athletes. Gus is no bum, and even USCe looks halfway respectable this year. Add in the MSU's of the world who can give ya a run for your money, and whoever UTk may get, i wouldn't want to deal with that if I were a coach in a relatively good position. 3/4 years into it they'd be ready to burn you at the stake, especially in Texas. Doesn't matter whether the fan base is delusional or not, they have expectations for all that coin they're putting down. Look at Gus. Guy seems to have one foot in the NC race, the other seems to be on the hot seat. Curious if he would ever jump ship and take the Arkansas job?

In any case, I hope A&M finds their coach and they do really well. In my lifetime, only time TAMU seemed like they were competing on a regular basis was when R.C. Slocum was there in the Dat Nguyen and Quintin Coryatt days.

Still one of the hardest hits I recall seeing. Broke poor dude's jaw in 2 or 3 places:

 
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I've said in here before I think Patterson is a pipe dream for A&M. I don't think we have a chance of getting him, but some of his comments regarding TCU have to be concerning for Horned Frogs fans (his comments make it seem like he was heavily interested in jumping to Tennessee and Nebraska openings recently but said they had already been sold on Kiffin and Pelini before he even met them for dinner; he's called out fan support at TCU games within the past few years). Again, revenues aren't fully disclosed due to being a private school, but they aren't touching the nation-leading nearly $200MM A&M brought in during the 15-16 season. I'd be shocked if they were even half of that.

It's definitely a harder road to the playoffs in the SEC, but the committee seems more than willing to give more leeway to SEC teams than Big 12 teams so far in its short tenure. It's hard to perform to your highest capability if you don't have the stage to do it on.
 
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No matter where we end up, we need to end up with somebody that can win at home like Slocum did for the majority of his time at A&M. That's the key. By the time we even have a chance to win a home game against a division opponent again we will have gone 3 full calendar years + some time since our last home win against an SEC West opponent. That's completely unacceptable when you have the largest student seating section in the nation and a stadium that seats 100k plus. Participation isn't the issue at all either. I was at the Auburn game and it was topping 110 decibels in the first half. Product on the field has to get better.

Kyle Field used to be an intimidating place to play. Now it's a damn near gimme for most opponents to come to and they know that. There's no fear at all. Even Fran and Sherman had the place as a more intimidating stadium than Sumlin has.
 
friendly reminder that fran left alabama for a&m.

77-0 killed his soul.

sumlin ain’t been the same since 59-0.
 
I've said in here before I think Patterson is a pipe dream for A&M. I don't think we have a chance of getting him, but some of his comments regarding TCU have to be concerning for Horned Frogs fans (his comments make it seem like he was heavily interested in jumping to Tennessee and Nebraska openings recently but said they had already been sold on Kiffin and Pelini after he met them for dinner; he's called out fan support at TCU games within the past few years). Again, revenues aren't fully disclosed due to being a private school, but they aren't touching the nation-leading nearly $200MM A&M brought in during the 15-16 season. I'd be shocked if they were even half of that.

It's definitely a harder road to the playoffs in the SEC, but the committee seems more than willing to give more leeway to SEC teams than Big 12 teams so far in its short tenure. It's hard to perform to your highest capability if you don't have the stage to do it on.

I'd agree it's harder to navigate the SEC than the Big 12, particularly the West, but I don't see a 2 loss A&M team getting in if they can't even get to the SEC CG. Also don't think the Big12 did themselves any favors not having a playoff either the past few seasons. But realistically, outside of the SEC, you're probably not going to have a 2 loss team in the playoffs, but it certainly doesn't mean it can't happen, especially if multiple conferences have teams with 2 losses. If I were taking an SEC job at the moment, I'd rather be in the SEC East at UF or UGA. Hell, maybe even Tennessee in the current landscape because you may have a shot at getting to Atlanta.

IMO, that's a lot more promising than playing Alabama, Auburn, and LSU every year. Hell, even Mac won the East his first and only 2 years and I'm not sure UF even fielded the offense in his tenure. There's a reason why there will probably be 4 to 5 new coaches at SEC schools this year. Texas A&M clearly has the resources, but it certainly hasn't translated on the field . What's kinda depressing is A&M has had 6 10+ win seasons in the last 30 years, 5 of which were during Slocum's tenure and only 1 10+ win season in the last 20. You have to applaud the fans and their dedication if they're raking in that kind of money. Anyway, A&M can continue to toss money into the program, but it could be futile if they think it will result into a National Title in the next few years while King Saban roams those halls. One of these days he'll slow down and there's gonna be a new top dog, but the scary thing is, it doesn't look like it may be anytime soon...

friendly reminder that fran left alabama for a&m.

77-0 killed his soul.

sumlin ain’t been the same since 59-0.

That's when they were Independence Bowl regulars though lol
 
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Yet nobody faults Auburn, LSU, Florida or anybody else for firing a coach with better results than Sumlin. Seems kinda stupid to me, but what the hell do I know? (Note: Malzahn got back to the championship with a lot of Chizik's recruits; has LSU really done that much since Saban's recruits filtered out?; Florida after Meyer...). Where were those programs before hitting on a coach or two in the last 20-30ish years?

They've all obviously had much better recent success than A&M, but Saban has been coaching in the SEC since they've all fired coaches right? Why is anybody anywhere in a Power 5 conference firing a coach? They're so stupid! Don't they know they have no chance to do any better at all because of one coach?! Auburn was so crazy when they fired championship-winning head coach Gene Chizik in 2012. Jay Jacobs must have had no clue Nick Saban was still alive! What an idiot!

8 wins is the ultimate baseline at A&M, and Sumlin has proven he's not ever gonna be better than that unless he has a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Johnny (and even then he did nothing Johnny's second year). Why is everybody making it seem like we're making one of the biggest mistakes in football history when we could have UNT's head coach take over and win 8 games a year? The issue was pretty much exhausted in here a couple weeks ago so this is all I'm gonna comment on it, but talent is not anywhere near the issue at A&M (I think it was dacomeup dacomeup that mentioned we were one of like 12 teams with more 4 and 5 *s that 2 and 3 *s)...we've gotten absolutely no development out of them at all once they were on campus. How many other programs can you name where the players are exactly as talented when they leave campus as they were when they came on campus? How did Myles Garrett get significantly better from his freshman year to his junior year? How has Christian Kirk gotten any better? Ricky Seals-Jones? Speedy Noil? Daylon Mack? 5-star QBs Kyle Allen or Kyler Murray? (Answer: none of them really did...)

All it takes is one coach to completely change the culture and trajectory of a program (yet we're somehow complete ******s for wanting to try better than our baseline of 8-4 every year). I don't get it. You guys get hard ons to give Richt **** for going 9-3 every year, but all of a sudden a black coach comes along going 8-4 at best and we're getting raked over the coals for him being on the hot seat despite getting top-3 level support from his school.
 
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I don’t blame AM for firing Sumlin, it reminds me of the Nebraska/Pellini deal. Only downside is it could get worse like it did for Nebraska. In the end he beat Bama that one year with Manziel and never did anything else IMO
 
Matt Corral and Divaad Wilson are visiting Alabama this weekend. Corral’s Wavering on his commitment to UF. As far as I know he’s still in touch with USC but they’re not recruiting him anymore (because of JT Daniels.)
 
Matt Corral and Divaad Wilson are visiting Alabama this weekend. Corral’s Wavering on his commitment to UF. As far as I know he’s still in touch with USC but they’re not recruiting him anymore (because of JT Daniels.)
Bama just covering their bases. Their getting Jones.
 
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